Same time last year

I went an entire summer without ice cream last year. Seriously, doesn’t that just seem like the worst? What are summers for if not for creamy deliciousness?

Right around this time last year I was recruited to be a diet pill model. When the offer came in I was super torn: on one hand I believe very strongly in the importance of a rational diet, on the other—a national commercial spot is nothing to sneeze at as an actress. Eventually I ended up quitting the gig; my conscious got the better of me, as did my innate desire to not be a total whack-job.

I have to give the company I worked with credit, they gave me a nutritionist that monitored my diet, and at the beginning things seemed pretty easy; all I had to do was eat cleanly. But after my initial 10lb weight loss, the scale stopped moving—it didn’t matter how many hours a day I logged at the gym, or how lean my meals were—I was as low as I was going to get. After weeks of frustration on my part and the part of the company my diet went from clean to crazy. That’s when I pulled the plug.

As bizarre as that experience was, I learned a lot about clean eating from it and it has been something I’ve continuously tried to reincorporate it into my lifestyle. Before my diet went off the deep end I felt amazing. Thanks to the lean eats and uptick in weight-room time I felt like my body was working more optimally than ever. The challenge on a daily basis is reconciling my deep-rooted need to not go to extremes, with my interest in getting back to that super-clean feeling place. Also, umm, it’s really hard to eat clean all the time, a girl’s got to live too!

Now that the heavy meals of winter are behind me, and I’m no longer chained to a cubicle all day, I’m up for the challenge of finding that balance. Perhaps it’s a summer challenge of sorts, but I’m not taking frozen desserts off the table again—that’s a non-negotiable.

This was my first attempt at making broccoli rabe. I sautéed it lightly with a little bit of olive oil and garlic, then added a cup of vegetable broth and some red pepper flakes to boil it down. It was so good I went back for seconds. Is it considered gluttony if you’re binging on broccoli?
Steak

I’m Kim and This is My Fault

So my deal is I'm a bestselling author, editor, and blogger with a passion for food and fitness. Additionally, I'm a certified spin instructor and personal trainer. Have fitness questions? Feel free to ask in the comments.